Indonesia plans to develop its own electronic voting machines with India's support

During Prime Minister Modi's visit to Indonesia, several major agreements are expected to be signed between the two countries in the fields of defense, trade, infrastructure, and election management. These arrangements aim to elevate the strategic partnership between India and Indonesia to a new level, including the import of defense missiles, investments in mineral supply chains, and cooperation in electoral administration.

Strengthening Bilateral Ties

It is reported that significant political agreements have been reached to strengthen bilateral relations in the sectors of technology, defense, and mineral supply chains. Indonesia plans to utilize India's assistance for developing its own specialized Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), based on India's successful election management model.

Defense Cooperation

Furthermore, in light of the confirmed success of the Indian 'Astra' cruise missile during 'Operation Sindhur', the Indonesian government has made an important strategic decision to procure advanced 'Astra' missiles from India. In military cooperation, Indonesia is expanding its defense fleet with existing stocks of India's renowned 'BrahMos' missiles. To accelerate this strategic expansion, India commits to providing full support by supplying additional missile batteries.

Investment in Mineral Resources

To fully strengthen the global supply chain of critical minerals, India intends to make large investments in Indonesia. As part of this economic agreement, India will share significant investments in local steel, nickel, and rare earth permanent magnet production enterprises.

Development of Sabang Port

The strategically important port of Sabang will now be jointly developed by India and Indonesia. This port monitors the Strait of Malacca. It is worth noting that this location is only 100 miles from India's 'Great Nicobar Port' project.

Indonesia intends to become another country integrating with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to more deeply enter India's digital public infrastructure. Unlike countries such as France, Singapore, and the UAE, which adopted UPI mainly to facilitate cross-border payments for Indian travelers and businesses, Indonesia's ambitions are much broader.

Digital Development Strategy

Indonesia views India's digital public infrastructure as a model for creating its own sovereign digital ecosystem. In addition to UPI integration, the country aims to develop compatible platforms for trade, digital identification, and public services that can eventually be exported to the ASEAN region.

High-Level Cooperation

The growing cooperation is expected to receive significant coverage during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Indonesia, starting on Monday, with digital cooperation becoming one of the key pillars of the bilateral partnership. An official representative noted: 'From food security and digital governance to healthcare, agriculture, and defense, successful models of Indian public policy are becoming valuable benchmarks for Indonesia's own development path.'

Social Sector Knowledge Exchange

Several Indonesian delegations have visited India to study flagship public policy initiatives, including the Public Distribution System (PDS), AgriStack, rice fortification, fertilizer subsidy reforms, PM POSHAN, and Jan Aushadhi. This is part of Jakarta's efforts to strengthen food security, agriculture, and healthcare provision.

Program Adaptation Examples

Indonesia's ambitious program to ensure nutritious meals draws inspiration from India's 'Mid-Day Meal' (PM POSHAN) scheme. Similarly, the 'Red and White Rural Cooperatives' initiative is exploring collaboration with India to provide affordable medicines through the Jan Aushadhi model, which helps improve access to healthcare in rural areas, an official representative stated.

Defense and Digital Trade

Indonesia is also working with New Delhi on issues of defense production, technology transfer, military training, and maritime cooperation, leveraging India's experience in domestic arms manufacturing under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, which opens up new opportunities for long-term interaction. Central to the digital infrastructure partnership is the proposed UPI-QRIS link, which will enable seamless cross-border payments between the two nations, benefiting businesses, tourists, and traders.

For nearly 1.7 million Indian tourists who visit Indonesia annually, especially Bali, this payment corridor should simplify transactions while stimulating tourism and trade. Furthermore, the country is creating the Indonesian Open Network (ION), an open digital trade platform inspired by India's Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).